


Victory At Last

by NohrianScum (OrderOfRevan)



Series: Fire Emblem If 'Canonverse' Stories [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Background Corriander, Gen, Parent-Child Relationship, Parenthood, Past Child Abuse, The Pairing Is Only Mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-24 10:02:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14952542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrderOfRevan/pseuds/NohrianScum
Summary: Years after the events that lead Xander to end his own father's life, he is now a father himself and contemplates the differences between them.





	Victory At Last

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Father's Day!

Tiny hands shook as they worked their way into the fabric of his fine shirt, the little prince’s face hidden in Xander’s broad shoulder as he hugged closer to his father’s chest. Around them, people cooed and purred at the toddler like he was a spectacle to be beheld, and Xander knew well from experience what it felt like to be a small child with the eyes of what felt like the entire world upon you. 

Careful to support Siegbert, he shifted his hold on his son so that he could soothingly brush his fingers through the back of his blonde curls. He bowed his head, pressing his lips briefly to the top of his son’s head, uncaring of who saw or what their opinion was. 

“Siegbert?” he asked quietly. 

“It’s loud, Papa,” came the small response. “Will it stop?”

Xander brushed his fingers through Siegbert’s hair again, wishing sorely he could remove every obstacle from his son’s life and knowing that he could not. Regardless, this was one thing he could do something about, at the very least. 

“It will,” he said, slowly sinking into his throne, recalling having to stand perfectly still at Father’s and Mother’s side even as a boy this small, even before things had become truly bad, simply because Father had insisted. “Can you look at the people for me?” 

He felt Siegbert nod, watching as his son’s wide, red eyes (so like his mother’s) looked out on the room full of nobles. Xander could see his face grow paler as he took it all in, the talking, the raucous laughter, the eyes staring at him, and after a few moments of this, Xander simply held up a hand and called all the nobles to attention. 

Immediately, Siegbert relaxed in his arms and looked up into his father’s face. 

Xander smiled at him approvingly and brushed a strand of unruly hair behind one of his ears. “Wonderful,” he said quietly enough that he was certain only his son could hear, even in the quiet room. “You are doing wonderfully, my son.”

Straightening, he lifted his head to address the crowd, addressing those assembled as he did every time he held court. Of course he discussed Queen Hinoka’s and Princess Sakura’s trade agreements and assistance in revitalizing Nohr’s environment after the Blight they had suffered those long decades ago. 

Everything from the disappearance of certain Royal Retainers to the imposition of tariffs to complaints about taxation in certain sectors to pay for road repair was brought to Xander. As usual he addressed it all, watching as his son grew sleepier and sleepier against him, nodding off tucked into Xander’s side, reassured that his son could grow acclimated to crowds and loud noises if only shown patience and understanding. 

When it was all over, he shifted the boy in his arms and stood, watching as Siegbert sleepily stirred awake and looked up into Xander’s face. 

“Papa?” He asked, confused, rubbing his eyes with one small fist. 

“I need to go talk to the nobles,” he replied, smiling at the creases on Siegbert’s face from where he’d been pressed against Xander’s shirt. “It’s quite alright if you keep sleeping, son.” 

“I want to watch Papa,” Siegbert asserted, though he hugged more closely to his father’s chest as they approached the crowd. 

“It won’t be interesting,” he said, watching the face the toddler made, like he’d smelled something foul; it was, of course, adorable. “I’ll just be talking about politics.”

“Swords?” Siegbert asked quizzically, and Xander laughed and shook his head. 

“No,” he paused “... Well, perhaps. Perhaps swords.”

“I’ll listen,” the boy said, shifting in Xander’s arms to sit up more proudly, his expression attentively determined. 

He felt… Warm, as he always did, when looking at his son. 

In truth, everything leading up to his birth had been terrifying. Corrin had suffered a great deal during the pregnancy as the world as they both knew it fell apart around them and she had lost both of her Hoshidan brothers. For awhile, Xander had both hoped for and dreaded the possibility that she might miscarry from the stress, praying every night that things would turn out for the best no matter the outcome. 

After all, at the time their relationship had been a secret and her pregnancy had been the subject of rumors. 

Looking at his son now, however, Xander could not be more grateful that nothing had happened to Corrin’s pregnancy. He had been from the moment he’d held Siegbert in his arms, newborn and red faced, so small that it was frightening , and had realized that this child could ask him to move mountains and he would. 

It was what he had come to feel for Elise when he realized she would only ever have him, and though the sentiments themselves were different, he felt the same way about Camilla, Leo, and… And Corrin. 

With those thoughts and feelings in his heart, Xander milled about the nobles for a time, keeping an eye on Siegbert. Of course, everyone greeted their little prince, who smiled back shyly to the people he knew and utterly ignored the people he didn’t, but he was barely four years old and that was to be expected. It was only when Camilla approached that he brightened up, reaching out for her to be held. 

“Ah, if it isn’t my favorite nephew,” she cooed as she pulled Siegbert to her chest, smiling at Xander. “Where’s Corrin?” 

“Corrin,” Xander began, “is currently ill and in bed.”

He could see Camilla frowning sharply at the thought of her precious little sister lying sick elsewhere and reached out, placing a hand on her shoulder to guide her away from the crowd. “Worry not. Elise is with her,” as they passed through the doors and away from prying eyes, he lowered his voice, leaning towards Camilla. “In fact, we… We are expecting again.”

Immediately his sister’s face lit up, looking down to Siegbert and then back towards Xander. “Oh, sweetie,” she said, laughing ever so slightly, “don’t worry me like that! That’s much more wonderful than Corrin being sick!” 

“I don’t want the news to spread quite yet,” Xander admitted, taking his son back from Camilla’s arms as the boy reached for him. “Corrin deserves a more restful pregnancy than her last. She… We went through hell.”

Camilla’s hand fell on his shoulder and the two of them began to meander towards the gardens, Siegbert pointing out various things as they walked. Sometimes, he would name flowers, and other times he would ask about the Royal Guard, but with people he was comfortable with he was truly effusive. Xander felt pride well up in him at how clever his boy was at only four years of age, constantly in awe of his little boy. 

“Everything was horrible back then,” Camilla agreed. “Things have changed after… After Father passed on.” Her face took on a thoughtful expression as she looked towards Siegbert, reaching out to squeeze his hand. “Your son is a miracle, Xander. I hope you’re aware of that.”

“I am,” he said, looking into Siegbert’s face, “every day.”

“What’s a miracle?” Siegbert asked, stumbling over the word ‘miracle’, his brow furrowed in concentration as he forced the word from his lips. 

“A miracle is something… Something you weren’t expecting,” Xander said, then paused thoughtfully, trying to find an explanation his son would understand. “It’s… A very good surprise, a very special one, that might even be a gift from the Gods.” 

Xander sat down upon a bench, setting Siegbert beside him, though his son quickly clambered back up into his lap. His red eyes were intent, brow still furrowed, and in that moment Xander realized why everyone always said Siegbert looked like him… Such a serious expression for a four year old to have. 

“Did the Gods make me?” Siegbert asked, very determined, Camilla laughing behind him. 

“The Gods can only say yes or no,” he said, reaching out to straighten his son’s cravat. “You’re here with your Mother and I because the Gods said yes when we were certain they would say no.” 

Siegbert appeared to be deep in thought, wringing his hands together in front of him the way he always did when he was thinking. It was hard to believe the infant he’d first held in his arms scant months after returning from Hoshido had already grown so much, that this boy, his little boy, had somehow survived the war intact. 

Perhaps it was because his mother was Draconic in nature, perhaps it made him hardier, somehow. Perhaps the spirits of the dead that Corrin had claimed she’d spoken to after Yato’s initial failure had somehow preserved the infant’s life force and ensured he would be born. There were many things that Xander didn’t understand about the nature of the world, but none of it mattered right now. 

What mattered was that his son had survived, that he had a family with the woman he loved and… And that his family was growing. 

“I’m glad they said yes, then,” Siegbert declared at last. “I’m glad you’re my Papa.”

Xander felt his throat grow tight at those words, at such a pure affirmation of love, something that held so much weight when it came from the mouth of a child. Leaning forward, he pressed another kiss to his son’s forehead, gently carding the fingers of one of his hands through Siegbert’s golden locks as he drew in a shuddering breath and closed his eyes. 

Tears he would not shed clung to his lashes. 

“And I’m glad you’re my son,” Xander said quietly, “as is your mother, and we both love you very, very much.” 

Siegbert didn’t respond, curling into his father’s chest instead, pressing so close that Xander could feel the heartbeat in his ribcage. 

Slowly, he leaned back, looking up into Camilla’s still-smiling face as he listened to the sound of Siegbert’s breathing, hearing his son drift off to sleep. Shifting ever so slightly, he held the boy comfortably against his chest and shook his head, unable to keep the fond smile from his lips. 

“I never thought it would be possible for me to have this.”

Slowly, Camilla lowered herself into place on the bench beside him. “None of us did,” she said, brushing a strand of her hair behind an ear. “It’s hardly perfect, but if you had ever told me I’d live to see a peaceful Nohr…” A sigh pushed its way past her lips, “I don’t think I could have believed you.” 

“I…” Xander trailed off, stumbling over his words, lost in the warm afternoon air between them. “To have a family, Camilla… To be able to… To have this openly. I… I never could have…”

“He would have hurt them,” Camilla said simply, a statement to which Xander could only nod. “He would have used them to hurt you.” 

“But he’s gone, and… And as guilty as I feel for not… Being able to save him…” Xander drew in a breath through his nose and slowly exhaled through his mouth, counting the beats between them. “I realize now that he’s the reason I wasn’t happy for so long. I … Will  _ never  _ hurt my children the way Father hurt us.” 

Camilla placed a hand on his shoulder, and though she now wore fine dresses and carried herself about on her husband’s arm, they were still the strong hands of a warrior. “Xander,” she said, leaning her head against him as the two of them looked out onto the moonlit garden, Siegbert slumbering in Xander’s lap, “dear. You were never much like Father to begin with.”

And for the first time in his life, that statement brought him a sense of peace. 


End file.
